
Qass. 
Book. 



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S E E M O N ,^ 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 



UTE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 






SERMON 



in iht m 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 



LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



PREACHED ON THE OCCASION OF THE NATIONAL FUNERAL, 

Wednesday, AiU'il 19, 1865, 

N. L. KICE, D.D, 

Pastor of the Preshjierian Church in Fifth Avenue, cor. Idth St., N. Y. 



Neto fork: 

WM. C. BRYANT & CO., PRINTERS, 41 NASSAU STREET, COR. OF LIBERTY. 

1865. 



E^5 



Note. — This Sermon, kindly furnished by Rev. Dr. Rice, at their 
request, is published by several gentlemen of his congregation. 



SERMON. 



Psalm xlvi.: 10. — " Be still, and know that I am God I" 

It is only in the light of Divine revelation that we can 
interpret the movements of Divine Providence. The Word 
of God reveals the purposes for which this world was 
created, and for the accomplishment of which it is governed. 
But even with all the light which shines upon us from 
Heaven, we can comprehend the ways of God only in part. 
When we have learned all that comes within the grasp of 
our limited intellects, we must yet adopt the language of 
Job — " Lo, these are parts of his ways ; but how little a 
" portion is heard of Him 1 but the thunder of His power 
"who can understand f Not less appropriate is the lan- 
guage of the Psalmist — " Clouds and darkness are round 
" about him : righteousness and judgment are the habita- 
" tion of his throne." 

The difficulty which presses the mind is far greater, when 
Providential events of a peculiarly startling and alarming 
character are the subject of contemplation. In such circum- 
stances, the feelings of the heart become too strong for the 
intellect. It is easy, in the indulgence of the feelings that 
burst forth in view of an event so sudden and so appalling, 
as that which has called us together, to give utterance, and 



thus impart' intensity to them. Yet we may not disregard 
the admonition of God's Word — " In the day of adversity 
" consider." " Be still, and know that I am God." 

Let lis, then, try to interpret the awful Providence which 
has summoned this whole nation to mourning, so far as to 
make a wise improA^ement of it, and to secure the blessing 
which our Heavenly Father is willing to connect with 
afflictive dispensations. Let us then — 

I. — Be still, and know that the hand of God is in it, and 
that He is speaking to us. If it be true, that the life of a 
sjDarrow is the object of God's care ; if it be true, that the 
very hairs of our heads are all numbered by Him, much more 
must it be true, that there was a Providence over the roan 
whose life was so intimately connected with all the interests 
of a great nation. True, he fell by the hand of the assassin ; 
but it is also true, that " The w^rath of man shall praise 
"Him; the remainder of wrath He will restrain." The 
murderous purpose could be executed only by Divine per- 
mission ; and such permission contemplates some great and 
wise end. Moreover, there are peculiarities connected with 
this murder, wdiich give it special and awful significancy. 

In the first place, the assassination of a civil ruler, in 
high position, is a thing almost unheard of in modern times, 
and especially in a Christian nation. Now and then 
attempts of the kind have been made, but they have almost 
always been providentially defeated. That in this enlight- 
ened and Christian nation such a thing would be attempted, 
and if attempted, would prove successful, had not entered 
into our minds. 

The assassination of such a man as President Lincoln, is 
yet more marvellous and more alarming. The great major- 
ity of civil rulers, who have been assassinated, have driven 



men to desperation by their tyranny and cruelty ; but liow 
different the character of the man who has fallen in our 
midst ! 

Mr. Lincoln was a man of remarkably amiable disposi- 
tion, and of kindly feelings. This no one acquainted with 
liis character, as I have been for some years, will question. 
He was a man of unblemished moral character. His prin- 
ciples have been proof against all temptations to corruptiou. 
He passed through a severe ordeal, in the midst of the most 
intense political excitement, when every act is scrutinized 
and every defect magnified. Yet he came out of that 
ordeal with a character unstained, challenging the respect, 
if not the admiration, of even political opponents. And 
now that he has left us forever, I am sure there will be 
but one testimony respecting his moral character. 

Mr. Lincoln was constitutionally calm— not carried away 
by the excitement by which he was surrounded. He pos- 
sessed, in a remarkable degree, not only self-control, but 
sound common sense, which is often worth far more than 
brilliant talents and great learning. He was not a man 
who ran to extremes in the opinions he formed. In the 
midst of unparalleled excitement, and pressed by powerful 
influences, he firmly maintained moderate and conservative 
views. 

On the agitating question of Slavery, he held and openly 
avowed tlie old doctrine of our fathers. Eegardiug the sys- 
tern, as it existed in our country, as a great evil and wrong, 
he saw plainly the great calamities which nnist inevitably 
result to the slaves themselves by an immediate and univer- 
sal emancipation ; and he saw the great disadvantages un- 
der which they must ever labor whilst living amongst the 
whites! He, therefore, favored gradual emancipation and 
colonization. Only the stern necessities of ^var constrained 



liim to resort to more summary measures. lie would, if 
lie could, have accomplished what some of us have long 
labored to accomplish for the country and the poor slaves. 

On the important question of the relations of Church 
and State he exhibited much clearer views than many who 
should have understood the subject better than he. During 
the whole period of his Presidency, he sat under the ministry 
of a pastor, of views so conservative, and who confined him- 
self so strictly to ■ the simple preaching of the Cross, as to 
expose himself to frequent charges of disloyalty by heated 
partizans. And when a minister of the Gospel, in a "Western 
city, was deprived of his church, and put under sentence of 
banishment by a Provost Marshal — his church being placed 
under the control of three individuals, charged by the Mar- 
shal to employ a minister of more loyal views ; Mr. Lincoln, 
after a careful inquiry into the case, and on ascertaining 
that the banished man was chargeable with the violation of 
no law, civil or military, promptly restored him to all his 
rights — stating, in his quaint manner, a most important 
principle : " The State must not undertake to run the 
" churches." 

Mr. Lincoln was a true patriot. Mistakes he doubtless 
committed. It would have been almost miraculous, if he 
had not. With little previous experience, he was called to 
the discharge of the arduous duties of the highest office in 
the nation, in the m^ost trying circumstances conceivable. 
The ship of State seemed just ready to founder ; and a war 
of fearful proportions met hiin at tlie very threshold. Few 
men have been called to face difficulties so appalling. Very 
few could have been as calm and undaunted. Instead of 
judging him harshly for mistakes committed, we may well 
wonder4hat he did not commit more and greater. The 
fact, that at the end of four years, he commanded the confi- 



deuce of the nation to so great extent, that they could find 
no other man to whom they were so willing to entrust the 
management of their affairs, whilst the great conflict was 
yet raging, is a high testimony to his patriotism. However 
widely men may differ (as the best men will differ), respect- 
ing the leading fneasures of his administration, few, I am 
persuaded, will doubt that his single aim M^as to promote 
the true interests of the country, 

I must not omit to record my admiration of his generous 
treatment of those who had taken up arms against the 
Government. He manifested no revengeful spirit, but 
seemed anxious to restore to the country a true and lasting 
Union. 

That an attempt should have been made to assassinate 
such a man, presents a fearful view of human depravity. 
That the diabolical attempt was allowed to be successful, 
presents a profound mystery in Divine Providence, " Be 
" still, and know that I am God.'' 

II. Be still, and know that He is God, and therefore 
will be obeyed and honored. He will be " exalted in the 
earth." 

Both in his word and by his providence God speaks to 
men in two ways, and addresses to them two classes of mo- 
tives. In his word we read, on the one hand, invitations, 
promises, even entreaties ; on the other, we find solemn 
warnings and threats of vengeance upon the rebellious and 
obdurate. In his providence we have, on the one hand, 
goodness, pouring into our laps his rich and varied gifts, 
thus appealing to gratitude, and leading to repentance ; 
and, on the other, we have severity, appealing powerfully 
to fear, and warning us to flee from the wrath to come. 
" Behold," saith Paul, " the goodness and severity of God." 



" I will sing," says the Psalmist, " of mercy and of judg- 
ment." 

The judgments of God are of two kinds, designed to 
accomplish two verj diiferent ends. There are destructive 
judgments — designed to remove the incorrigibly wicked 
out of the way, and to hold them up a teacon to others. 
Thus, Korah, Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up by 
the miraculous opening of the earth under their feet. 
Thus the ten tribes of Israel, having apostatized from God, 
were as a people swept from the earth. Thus Babylon was 
swept as with the besom of destruction. Thus, every nation 
that will not honor God, shall perish. 

There are corrective or reformatory judgments, designed 
to bring individuals or nations to repentance and reforma- 
tion. " Whom the Lord lovetli he chasteneth." Thus, 
speaking of the sufferings of the children of Israel for their 
apostacy, God said, " I will go and return to my place, till 
" they acknowledge tlieir offence, and seek my face : in 
" their afEiction they will seek me early." The seventy 
years of captivity in Babylon came as a Divine judgment 
upon the Jewish Church and nation ; but it was reforma- 
tory, not destructive. It was the purpose of God, after 
they had been brought to confess and forsake their wicked- 
ness, to restore them, a purified people, that they might 
again be " the light of the world." 

And we are permitted to rejoice, not only that mercy 
mingles with such judgments, but that it abounds over 
them. Two facts are of special interest to us. The first is, 
that God never sends His judgments upon a people for sins 
after they have confessed- and abandoned them. The 
second is, that they are removed, so soon as reformation is 
effected. By the prophet Jeremiah he speaks thus : " At 
" what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and con- 



9 



" cerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down, and to 
" destroy it, if tliat nation against wliom I have pronounced 
" turn from their sin, I will repent of the evil that I thought 
" to do unto them." And of the Jewish nation it is writ- 
ten : " When the}^ in their trouble did turn unto the Lord 
" God of Israel, and sought hira, he was found of them," 
Beautifully is this truth set forth in the parable of the Pro- 
digal. He came to himself and said, " I will arise and go 
" to my father." His father saw him a great way off, and 
ran and fell upon his neck, and kissed him. So readily does 
God meet the first movement in individuals and nations to- 
ward himself And so, as the Apostle James has it, 
" Mercy rejoiceth against judgment." 

But in whatever way God speaks to men, whether to in- 
dividuals or to nations, whether by mercies or by judg- 
ments. His aim is to bring them to acknowledge His autho- 
rity, to embrace the Gospel of Christ, to obey Plis laws, 
to exalt him in the earth. 

III. — Be still, and know that He is God — the only guide, 
supporter and protector of individuals, families, churches, 
and nations. He will have men not only acknowledge 
their obligation to obey Him, but their entire dependence 
upon Him. "Whilst his Gospel is received, and his law 
obeyed, His blessing must be sought, and His goodness 
gratefully acknowledged. To bring individuals and nations 
to feel and acknowledge their dependence, is one aim of his 
dealings with them. " When He slew them," says the 
Psalmist, " then sought they Him ; and they returned and 
" inquired early after God ; and they remembered that God 
"was their rock, and the hio;h God their Ecdeemer." The 
King of Babylon disdained, thougli often warned, to ac- 
knowledge his dependence on God, and, walking in his 
2 



10 

palace, viewing the wealth, the power and the splendor 
with which, as the greatest monarch on earth, he was sur- 
rounded, he soliloquised thus : " Is not this great Babylon, 
that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might 
of my poM'er, and for the honor of my majesty V^ In an 
instant, " while the word was in the king's mouth, there 
fell a voice from Heaven, saying, O, King ^N'ebuchadnezzar, 
to thee it is spoken : the kingdom is departed from thee." 
His reason fled ; he became a miserable idiot or a raving 
maniac, and was driven to dwell with the beasts of the field. 
He was efi'ectually humbled, wdien his understanding re- 
turned to him, and he proclaimed to the world : " Now, I, 
Nebuchadnezzar, praise, and extol, and honor the King of 
Heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment; 
and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." 

This same lesson will God, sooner or later, teach every 
man and every nation ; and the sooner an afflicted people 
learn it, the sooner will they, like the King of Babylon, 
bless God for the removal of His judgments, and for the 
restoration of His favor. On this day of mourning, God is 
teaching us this lesson. He has removed from us the man 
in whom so much confidence was reposed, and is impressing 
on us our dependence on Ilim alone. 

IV. — Be still, and know that He is God ; and, therefore, 
His ways are not to be fully comprehended, nor yet called 
in question. God is an infinite Spirit ; and it is inconceiv- 
able that the purposes of the infinite Mind should be com- 
prehended by finite minds. From the necessities of the 
case, therefore, we must be compassed about on every side 
with providential mysteries. But God will teach us to 
trust him as implicitly, when " His judgments are a great 
deep," as when all is clear as light. " For," saith he, " My 



11 

thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my 
ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than 
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my 
thoughts than your thoughts." The inspired Paul was 
filled with awe, as he contemxDlated God's dealings with his 
chosen people, as he foresaw their approaching dispersion 
among all nations, and their wanderings in spiritual dark- 
ness through many centuries ; and he exclaimed : " O, the 
depth of the riches both of the knowledge and wisdom of 
God ! how unsearchable are His ways, and His judgments 
past finding out !" 

We never honor God more than when we follow him 
with implicit confidence, when we cannot see our way, 
and believe him just, and good, and wise, Avlien his dealings 
with us are enveloped in painful mystery. " Behold," says 
elob, " He taketh away, who can hinder Him? Who will 
" say unto Him, what doest thou ?" " I was dumb," says 
" the Psalmist, " I opened not my mouth because thou 
" didst it." 

Such are the great principles in the light of which we 
must seek to interpret the providences of God towards our- 
selves, and towards this nation. What improvement do these 
principles enable us to make of the awful dispensation we 
are this day contemplating ? 

1. Deep and tender sympathy with the smitten family ; 
grief on account of a calamity which is both national and 
individual; indignation against the perpetrators of the 
horrid act ; these are feelings which arise spontaneously in 
the heart, and grow in intensity as we think over all the 
aggravating circumstances. Nor are such feelings, within 
proper bounds, to be condemned. When Abner fell by the 
murderous hand of Joab, David said to the people, " Rend 



12 

"your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn 
" before Abner ;" and David himself followed the bier to 
the grave, weeping. And he said to his servants, " Know 
'< ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this 
" day in Israel ?" And when Josiah, the pious king of 
Judah, fell in battle, " Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and 
" all the singing men and singing women spake of Josiah 
" in their lamentations to this day, and made them an 
" ordinance in Israel." 

Similar feelings swell the bosoms of the people of this 
nation to-day. We feel that the nation has suifered an 
afaiction, the extent of which we cannot yet foresee. We 
feel more than this— that each individual is afflicted ; for 
we are in feeling and interest fully identified with our 
beloved country. In its bereavement we are bereaved, in 
its sorrows we sorrow. Never before has this country 
known such a day of sorrow as this. The symbols of grief 
meet our eye in every direction, and are visible over the 
whole land. All distinctions are, for the time, forgotten 
in the common sorrow and alarm, 

2. Yet let us not forget, in the gush of natural feeling, 
that the awful voice of God is to be heard in this event, and 
that he aims to impress great truths of his word deeply and 
indelibly upon our minds. The prayer of Job is peculiarly 
appropriate now : " Do not condemn me ; show me where- 
" fore thou contendest with me." 

We know that all sin is offensive and dishonoring to God, 
and is, therefore, calculated to bring his displeasure upon 
men ; but to determine for what particular sins a nation is 
visited with judgments, is not easy, nor is it wise to attempt 
it. One thing on this point we do know : 

That this calamity has not come upon the nation for sins 



13 

confessed and forsaken. We have already sliown that God 
never visits a people with judgments for sins, after those 
sins have been abandoned. 

The last four trying years have wrought great changes, 
and we hope the severe discipline has not been wholly lost 
upon us. Slavery, the bone of contention, the gigantic 
evil which has been the occasion of the war, has been swept 
away. Even before the struggle began, the nation, by a 
decisive vote, had gone the full extent of its constitutional 
power in determining that it should be confined within its 
then present limits. And since then the nation has fully 
sustained its President in striking a death blow at it. ISTor 
have the people been indifferent to the wants and sufferings 
of the thousands so suddenly emancipated. That the South 
has brought upon itself fearful sufferings by attempting to 
break up our noble Union for the purpose of perpetuating 
and extending a terrible evil, of which they were bound to 
have sought the entire removal, is clear enough. But in 
seeking to understand the meaning of God's dealings with 
the nation., especially the present sore visitation, we must 
look, I cannot but think, at the sins not yet abandoned, and 
at lessons not yet well learned. 

In all war, especially civil war, there is great sin com- 
mitted, and there is always danger of incuring the displeas- 
ure of God. I do not doubt that such has been the case in 
our terrible conflict. And yet there are some things in 
connection with this war, which distinguish it happily from 
many others. I refer to the great pains taken and labor 
bestowed, both for the physical comfort and the spiritual 
interests of the soldiers. The Sanitary and the Christian 
Commissions go far to relieve some of the darker features 
of war; and the many conversions reported in the army 
have caused joy amongst the angels of God. 



14 



Yet, when we have said all that truth will permit us to 
say of a favorable character, the painful and alarming truth 
remains, that God still has a controversy with the nation. 
Nor can we wonder at this, if we venture to take even a 
partial view of the moral coudition of the country. There 
are sins yet to be repented of — lessons yet to learn, that 
God may be exalted in the land. May he enable us to dis- 
cover those sins, and abandon them, and to learn those 
lessons of wisdom. 

It required a training of forty years in the wilderness to 
prepare the Jews to become a free and prosperous nation. 
During that period of training, stroke after stroke fell upon 
them, until all, save two of those over twenty years of age 
when they left Egypt, had died. And over and over again 
had they, in the course of their history, to be taught the 
same lessons. Few families enjoy unmixed prosperity for 
any great length of time ; and nations, even more than 
families, require chastisements, lest pride and wickedness 
destroy them. 

The foundations of this nation were laid in sufferings. 
Our fathers were called to learn wisdom in the severe school 
of affliction. But we became a great, wealthy, corrupt 
nation, forgetful of the author of our greatness ; and now 
that voice of warning has come to us—" Be still, and know 
that I am God." 

Great sorrow has come upon us during the last four weary 
years ; may we not hope that we liave not suffered in vain ? 
God could have made the first battle decisive, or brought 
the war to a termination in a month. He did not do so ; 
not because he delights in the sufferings of men, but because 
we had not learned those lessons so essential to the future 
progress of the »ation. 

The war is now, we trust, substantially over ; the authority 



I 



16 

of the Government is supreme over nearly all our territory. 
But in the midst of our rejoicings at the prospect of the unity 
and peace of the nation, a fearful stroke, as from heaven, 
fills our minds with grief and alarm. By that stroke the 
man is taken from us, who had so completely possessed him- 
self of the confidence and love of the people. He is removed 
just when he was most needed — when all his experience, 
and skill, and influence were required to adjust those deli- 
cate and difiicult questions that must now arise. 

Why is this ? " Be still, and know that I am God." Are 
we not, in a peculiar sense, in this crisis of our affairs, 
thrown upon God for guidance and help ? And can we not 
trust him ? He has brought us through the darkness and 
alarm of the past, when men's hearts were failing them for 
fear, and for looking after those things which seemed com- 
ing ; when anarchy stared us in the face ; when we feared, 
that Republican government was a failure — tliat there was 
not yet sound morals enough to sustain it. I confess I have, 
within these four years, thought, with more pain than plea- 
sure, of a lecture I once published on the mission of the 
United States. With intense interest, T have watched for the 
signs of moral and religious improvement in the church and 
the country. I hope a brighter day is dawning ; yet, I 
fear, as well as hope. 

May not this severe stroke have in it something of hope ? 
May it not, by the very perils in Avliich it involves us, lead 
us to look up for aid ? May it not make a deep and salu- 
tary impression upon the whole people ? If it should, then, 
indeed, the future will be brighter. 

Let us adopt the language of this 46th Psalm, and say— 
" God is our refuge and strength) a very present help in 
" trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be 
" removed, and though the mountains be carried into the 



16 

" midst of the sea ; though tlie waters thereof roar and be 
" troubled ; though the mountains shake with the swelling 
" thereof." 

The path of duty and of safety is plain. Let the people 
gather around the man who now fills the place so sadly va- 
cated, as I rejoice to see a general disposition to do, and 
sustain him by their prayers, as well as by other means. If 
ever a man needed the prayers of a people, he needs them 
now. Called so unexpectedly, and with so little prepara- 
tion, to discharge the functions of such an office, in such a 
crisis, so surrounded with difiiculties and perils, what other 
than Divine guidance and support can enable him to go 
forward with safety to himself, and to the vast interests in- 
trusted to him? Our own dearest interests, and the in- 
terests of unborn generations, are involved in the questions 
now to be settled, in the work now to be done. If we shall 
heed the voice that now speaks to us so solemnly, and turn 
to God in obedience and in supplication, we shall pass 
safely through this crisis ; the nation, made wiser and purer 
by means of its trials, will again go forth on its great mis- 
sion, shedding its clear light upon the nations of the earth. 
And then we shall give to God all the glory, and He will 
be exalted in the earth. 

Finally, let us not forget that religion is, in Its very 
nature, an individual matter. God is speaking, not to 
masses of people, but to each individual. He is Avarning 
all to become reconciled to Him, and calling His children 
nearer to Him. How uncertain a thing is life, and how 
comparatively worthless wealth, ofiice, honor, and all that 
this world can offer us ! In the twinkling of an eye, Ave 
may be called to part with it all. " One thing is needful." 
Let us seek it earnestly, and without delay. 



IB S '12 



